1,378 Schools Affected by NTT Earthquake, Government Prepares Emergency Classrooms
A total of 1,378 educational institutions and 502 schools have been affected by the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) last Saturday. Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Atip Latipulhayat said the disaster also claimed victims from the school community. One of them was Febriani Evika Jas, a fifth-grade student at SDK Ri’i, Bea Mese Village, Cibal District, Manggarai Regency, who died as a result of the earthquake.
Atip expressed deep condolences for the earthquake victims, which have now reached 75 deaths. “We extend our deepest condolences for the earthquake disaster that has claimed 72 lives,” said Atip on Thursday (20/8).
According to him, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has distributed compensation of Rp5 million and basic food packages to Febriani’s family. Assistance was also provided to affected students and teachers whose homes suffered damage.
The earthquake’s impact on the education sector covers 177,678 students and 21,166 teachers and education personnel. Of the 8,664 classrooms affected, 5,521 rooms or 63.7 percent suffered damage. A total of 2,229 classrooms were severely or totally damaged.
Damage also occurred to laboratories, libraries, sanitation facilities, and teachers’ official housing. In addition, 116,324 students experienced learning disruption due to the earthquake and ongoing aftershocks.
The implementation of learning, he said, follows the policy of the NTT Provincial Government by implementing home-based learning and learning at evacuation sites to avoid school buildings that could potentially collapse.
“Avoid buildings that could potentially collapse and cause injury, because aftershocks are still ongoing,” he said.
From preliminary data collection, 923 educational institutions are implementing home-based learning, 171 schools are conducting online learning, 35 schools are using emergency classrooms, and 30 schools are still conducting face-to-face learning.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, said Atip, has issued emergency learning guidelines emphasising learning flexibility, essential materials, basic literacy and numeracy, and psychosocial support for students and teachers affected by the NTT earthquake.
To accelerate the recovery of learning activities, the ministry is preparing 100 classroom tents targeted to be in use starting next week.
The government is also preparing psychosocial support for students and teachers and distributing assistance in the form of 5,000 school kits, 1,500 family kits, 3,956 whiteboards, and 123,522 books.
In addition, he said the ministry’s team has been moving since 16 August from Labuan Bajo carrying 4,500 children’s gift packages, 810 basic food packages, and 400 family kits for distribution to earthquake-affected areas in NTT. The team is also moving to several regions, including West Manggarai, Manggarai, East Manggarai, Ngada, Nagekeo, and Sikka.